


Alex Summers and the Actually Pretty Good Day

by angelbot



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28743960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelbot/pseuds/angelbot
Summary: Alex is having a bad day, and then it becomes a good day with the help of John Greycrow and a few bottles of booze.
Relationships: Alex Summers/John Greycrow
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: X-Plain the X-Men X-change Winter 2020-21





	Alex Summers and the Actually Pretty Good Day

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was a gift for murphy alexander as part of the Winter X-fic X-change! Murphy I hope you like this.

Being the person everyone expects great things out of is hard. But being that guy’s fuck up brother is harder. Alex Summers knows this well.

And to be be fair, the fucking up isn’t always his fault. Alex is pretty sure whatever’s going on with his mind that’s kept him on the Hellions with the even bigger fuck ups isn’t his fault. Pretty sure. But something stings about being kept on the team with fucking Empath. Try as hard as he may to think otherwise, there’s a distance between Alex and Scott, Scott’s two incredibly perfect soulmates, and the rest of what would be considered upstanding Kraroan society.

It’s not like Alex hasn’t tried to be better. He’s tried more than most anyone would, and most anyone would’ve given up by now. The problem is he’s failed every single time.

But hey, he gets to live on the moon now.

And it’s on the moon that Alex wakes up on a Saturday from a vague dream. He’s forgotten nearly all of it upon waking, but the shape of the thing is still there. It was pleasant, for sure. He was in someone’s arms. A nice break from the usual nightmares, but Alex can’t bring himself to relax. Even the bright artificial sunlight from the SAD lamp that’s supposedly helping him feels threatening somehow. Alex doesn’t even have seasonal affective disorder — well, he’s not sure, actually. Jean gave him the lamp and made him promise her he’d use it, so maybe she was onto something.

Alex stares at the ceiling for a bit and sighs. Then he gets started with his day. He trudges through his morning routine and barely acknowledges Gabriel as he passes by him on his way to the gateway to Krakoa.

Alex enters the Hellions Staging Theatre, and it’s completely empty. “

Uh, hello?” Alex says, craning his neck to see if he’s missing anyone.

“Hey,” comes Greycrow’s voice from a corner Alex could’ve sworn was just empty.

Alex jumps a bit, then immediately straightens.

“Oh, hey,” Alex says, attempting to sound casual. “Where is everyone?”

“Kwannon’s out doing God knows what with Sinister, Nanny’s off reconstructing the suit, and I think Wild Child got in a fight with Logan and died,” Greycrow says with a shrug.

“...and Empath?” Alex asks.

“I stranded him on Danger Island,” Greycrow responds. “He’ll be fine as long as he finds someone with a brain to manipulate.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Alex asks, more out of habit than actual concern.

“Someone will realize he’s gone,” Grewcrow says. “Eventually.”

A beat, then Greycrow starts laughing. It’s a hearty, loud laugh, and Alex stiffens instinctively. “

You’re not going to report me to the quiet council, are you?” Greycrow laughs, giving Alex a slap on the back.

Alex starts at the contact, and looks at Greycrow more closely. He’s flushed, and Alex is starting to detect a slur in his words.

“Greycrow...are you drunk?” Alex asks.

“Who’s asking?”

“Me. Alex. I’m asking.”

“Oh,” Greycrow says. “Well, yeah. I guess you could say that.” Alex doesn’t quite know how to respond to that.

Greycrow must be at least somewhat aware of Alex’s shock, because he goes “What?”, sounding somewhat offended. “Is it suddenly illegal to have fun? Don’t tell me I’m below the legal drinking age.”

“I mean, I thought we were going to have a mission or something today,” Alex says, a last-ditch attempt at winning what he’s quickly realizing is a losing battle.

“Nah,” Greycrow says, rummaging through a drawer before pulling out a bottle of rum. He turns to Alex and smiles. “So, officer, are you going to arrest me now?”

Alex feels a certain jolt at that, one he doesn’t particularly want to confront or unpack. A part of him says this is hugely unprofessional and not the sort of thing two teammates should be doing at 9 am. The other part of him is really fucking tired.

“Give me that,” Alex says, grabbing the bottle from Greycrow.

***

“Have you ever done Karoke?” Alex asks, grinning. They’re sitting next to each other on the floor.

“What?” Greycrow responds, brows furrowed.

“You heard me. Karokeeeeee.”

“Alex, you’re drunk.”

“No, YOU’RE drunk!” Alex says and bursts out laughing.

A beat, then Greycrow joins him.

“Yeah, you’re drunk,” Greycrow says with a smirk.

“No, I’m not. Definitely not,” Alex says with a definitive shake of his head.

“Prove it.”

Alex gets up and does his best impression of the DUI tests he’s seen on TV. It’s a pretty good effort, if you ask him.

“Still not convinced,” Greycrow says.

Alex pouts and sits back down.

“Look. If I were drunk, I’d be making like, a TON of bad decisions, okay?”

“You’re drinking at 10 am,” Greycrow says. “That’s a bad decision.”

“I made that decision before I started drinking,” Alex says, crossing his arms. “I am tipsy at best and not acting on any impulses.”

“Impulses? Like what?” Greycrow asks with a smile. “You want to commit arson or something?”

“Nah,” Alex says. And then something in him reaches into his vocal cords and pulls out “I was thinking about making out with you.”

It’s at that moment that Alex realizes his face is very, very close to Greycrow’s. He’s not quite sure how he got there, but he sure as hell is there.

“Wait, what?” Greycrow pauses, and in his expression it’s almost as if Alex can see the neurons in his head firing and trying to compute this information.

“Well,” Alex begins, not quite sure where he’ll end up. “You’re...very pretty.”

“I am?” Greycrow asks, with a sort of shock that makes something in Alex crumble, though he’s only distantly aware of it under the sirens in his head screaming ABORT ABORT ABORT.

“Yeah!” Alex says, his immediate instinct to comfort. “I’m surprised Kwannon hasn’t, you know, jumped on you.”

Their faces are still very close. Alex is faintly surprised Greycrow hasn’t pulled away.

“You’re drunk,” Greycrow says, looking down glumly. “Either that or you’re fucking with me.”

“No, I’m not,” Alex says, and suddenly his hand is on Greycrow’s knee, a small gesture of intimacy that he wasn’t aware he was making. “I swear.”

“I mean,” Alex starts as Greycrow meets his gaze, “It’s totally fine if you don’t want to, and if that’s the case we can definitely chalk it up to me being hammered out of my mind and never talk about this again, but I’m pretty sure I’m just tipsy right now and —””

Alex stops as Greycrow reaches his hand out and rests it on Alex’s jaw. The sensation is much gentler than Alex would have expected.

Their faces are so close right now, they’re breathing in the same air, and it’s not kissing, but it’s not not kissing. Greycrow’s looking at him, and there’s a certain sort of awe peeking through in his expression, Alex can a wall inside himself tumbling down.

Alex is aware that this is a colossally stupid idea that has a huge chance of blowing up in his face, but he’s sobering up by the second and he can’t let the moment go. So he just lets it all out.

“I don’t know if you’re anything like me,” Alex says, his voice barely a whisper. “But if you are...look, I’ve seen you. I’ve seen who you are when you think no one’s looking. You’re not a monster, no matter what you tell yourself.”

Alex exhales, and he’s about to pull back and walk away from it all because all he can do is fuck up and he’s undoubtedly fucking up now, but Greycrow pulls him in in. Greycrow kisses slowly and deliberately, and Alex feels like he could just melt into it. Time melts too, and Alex isn’t really aware of how long he’s kissing him, only that he doesn’t want to stop. Alex isn’t sure where this is going to go, but the sensation of joy and warmth has been gone for so long, he doesn’t really care .Alex wonders briefly if this is what Scott feels like with his better halves, then shelves the thought for a later date.

He’s happy right now, and he’s going to milk it for all it’s worth.


End file.
